Green Mountain

Wang Gui clutched his waist and lay on the ground, like a river shrimp just pulled from the water. He curled up, stretched out, curled up again, stretched out—all to no avail, as the piercing pain refused to relent.

He cursed incessantly, "You wretch, I’ll kill you for sure!"

At this moment, Zhang Xia was lying flat on the roof near the edge of the eaves, gazing downward. She saw dozens of Heavenly Strategy Army armored soldiers with blades clenched between their teeth, climbing up one by one in a queue. "Not good! They’re about to reach the third floor!"

Wang Gui, hearing her warning, could no longer afford to dwell on his pain. He shoved the table and chairs back together and climbed upward, barely managing to squeeze into the roof’s fracture just before the Heavenly Strategy Army could reach them.

On the rooftop, Wang Gui lay by the opening and hurled obscenities, "That damned wretch around Chen Ji..."

Zhang Xia snapped angrily, "Shut up! Do you want the Heavenly Strategy Army to discover we’re hiding here?"

With that, she leaned close to the crack and peeked inside. The table and chairs were still stacked together.

If anyone entered the room, they’d immediately think someone was hiding up above.

Clenching her teeth, Zhang Xia slowly shifted her body downward to try and knock the chair off the table, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t reach it.

Qi Zhenzhuo crouched beside her and said, "I’ll do it!"

Zhang Xia stepped aside to make room. Qi Zhenzhuo pried off a roof tile and hurled it at the chair. The chair dropped to the ground with a crash.